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| Gangnails - without and with nail holes | ||
Gangnails of this kind, sometimes known as dowels, can be used to provide a tight fit. They are available in a wide variety of different shapes and sizes. The specialist literature also refers to these as "shear transfer plates". They are punched pieces of steel sheet with triangular teeth bent upward and downward.
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| Different shapes and sizes of shear transfer plates |
| To facilitate handling, these devices are also available in "display packaging". Then they are shrink-wrapped ready-to-use and can be inserted simply. |  |
Aids like this make sense when unitizing packages with robust softwood surfaces, e.g. single-use pallets, softwood pipe clamps, cases with suitable skids or belt battens etc. If gangnails are laid between loads of this kind and then the loads are strapped or bound together in some other way, they will increase cohesion. If it is possible to lay them on platform containers with softwood floors, they can contribute to improving load securing or to reducing the remaining securing work. On their own, they are not sufficient as a means of securing. Under stress, the teeth bend and flatten and consequently become virtually ineffective. This has been confirmed by testing carried out on unsecured loads.
In box containers it is conceivable to use them between individual package layers, but not practical, since accessibility is difficult in most cases. Unless special aids are used to lay them. Because of the risk they pose, they should not be used on container floors made of plywood or textured coated board.
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Spike-based chock on a roll of liner boards |
It makes sense to use spike-based chocks on cargo transport units with soft floors which allow this. A further requirement is that cylindrical goods can be placed against the chocks. When securing cylindrical goods with for instance four spike-based chocks, the load would have to be set down, the chocks put in place, the load raised, the chocks secured and the load then set down again. If the positions of the chocks are measured accurately and they are placed beforehand, the first steps can be omitted, but the product must be put in place from above. The applications for spike-based chocks of this kind are generally very limited. In the field of container traffic, they could only be used on platform containers.